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Maple Leafs dive headlong into history for centennial celebration

Franchise already unveiled a new logo, will add three players to Legends Row statue and play outdoor game on New Year’s Day.

Statue of Darryl Sittler comes over the boards flanked by Borje Salming (left) and Ted Kennedy in the Legends Row outside Air Canada Centre. There will be three more additions to Legends Row this season. (Richard Lautens / Toronto Star file photo)

Brooks Laich grew up in a Saskatchewan town that is, depending on the rush hour traffic, a 30-hour drive west of Toronto. And still his bedroom was filled with posters of faraway hockey players — with Doug Gilmour, Mats Sundin and Felix Potvin on his walls.

There is a photo, Laich said, of a visit he made to the Hockey Hall of Fame when he was 15 years old. He was wearing a Leafs jersey. There was no number on the back, but when asked for his retroactive choice, he smiled sheepishly: “Probably Dougie.”

“I have a lot of respect for the organization, the city, the logo,” Laich said more seriously. “I’m a hockey player because of the Maple Leafs.”

This season, his first full year wearing the uniform, Laich will become part of an ongoing celebration of a franchise that has enmeshed generations of fans living far beyond the city limits. They have also, alternately, entertained, enraged and enthralled.

The Leafs have not always had an easy relationship with their own history, but they will dive headlong into it throughout their centennial season. There will be banners, statues, and living memories walking through the dressing room.

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“I think there’s a lot of responsibility with wearing that jersey,” Laich said. “We want to restore the Maple Leafs organization around the league as the place to play hockey.”

Harold Ballard, the convicted criminal who owned the team during its darkest days, was resistant to celebrating the team’s past. In 1988, The Los Angeles Times relayed remarks Ballard made about hanging banners inside Maple Leaf Gardens: “I would fly them, but they collect too much dirt and dust.”

In 2013, under then MLSE boss Tim Leiweke’s leadership, pictures of the Leafs’ Stanley Cup teams of the ’60s were removed from the hallway that leads to the dressing room.

“I’m tired of talking to fans about ’62, ’63, ’64 and ’67,” he told the Star. “I get that it’s important. I honour our history, but it ain’t what we’re selling any more.”

This year will be different. Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello suggested the infusion of history could help a roster stocked with young players who are still finding their way in the NHL.

“I think it’s going to be just great for them during this centennial to see what the culture has been, and who they represent,” Lamoriello said. “I think it’s going to be great.”

The Leafs have already unveiled a new logo for their centennial. They will have a set of new banners to hang inside Air Canada Centre. They will add three players — Dave Keon, Turk Broda and Tim Horton — to their Legends Row outside the arena.

And on New Year’s Day, the Leafs will face the Detroit Red Wings at BMO Field in the Centennial Classic. Laich said he has already set out to acquire tickets for his family and friends.

“You’re a role model to so many people, and the spotlight’s on you,” said veteran forward Brandon Prust. “A lot of kids are watching. I’m never one to shy away from a photo and taking time for kids — I know what it meant to me as a kid. Those are the people you play for.”

Prust had already made stops in two Original Six markets before arriving in Toronto on a professional tryout. He spent parts of three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and was “kind of in awe” when retired legends such as Jean Beliveau walked through the room.

“I was pretty star-struck when I met him,” he said.

The Canadiens have elevated the celebration of their hockey culture into an art form. The Leafs will have their chance this season.

“There’s going to be so many tributes, there’s going to be so many alumni around — guys that I watched, or looked up to,” Laich said. “It’s just a privilege; just very privileged to be in Toronto and to be here for this year, for the 100th anniversary.”

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